Ward Campout

Last night we joined some of our fellow ward members for our annual ward campout.  We slept in our tent, in nature, with the wild animals at our tent flap.  We didn't have to pee in a hole because there were bathrooms available, but there was no electricity in the bathrooms, so we did have to do our business in the dark.  The children love to camp, they like to hang out with our neighbors, and so all in all, we had a great time.

The camp was up Heber Canyon, and though we were following the directions, I was reading out loud to everyone and not watching the road, so we missed our turn off and drove several miles further up the canyon than we should have.  It was a good book!  We ate our dinner in the car because it took so long to get there, we were all super hungry.  When we arrived, we pitched our tent and settled in for an evening of fun.  Each family prepared a skit or song or something that could be performed for the group.  Blythe participated with her small girlfriends in several magic tricks.  As a family, we sang and then had the group join us in a rousing rendition of "There is a Tavern in the Town."  It's a silly song and we sang it in a silly way.  I also brought Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late which I read as a "bedtime story" to everyone.  We had cookies and campfire popcorn, and chatted and laughed with each other until it was time for bed.  Fortunately, with the blessing of earplugs, we all slept pretty well.

In the morning, we enjoyed a breakfast of cold cereal, all sugary and bad for you.  I ate two bowls of Froot Loops and the kids ate a similar number of the same.  We packed up our gear, cleaned bathrooms, and headed home.  It really was a fun evening and was super great to be with everyone.  I took a few pictures of the evening's performances, but none of them were very good.  The group shot wasn't too bad.

Breakfast!

Left side from top down: Gavin, Shaylee, Bridie, Evan, Brandt

Right side from top down: Quentin, Caleb, Maxwell, Mary, Abbie, Ashlyn, Blythe

 

Blythe with Abbie, Ashlyn, Eleanor, Shaylee, and Bridie

Families pictured: Harkness, Seamons, Elder, Drake, Weidner, Ogles, Tayler, Runia, Barrus

It's the silly picture, though I think it's mostly hard to tell.

Those pictured are generally fairly silly people.

Hiking to Stewart Falls

This morning Brandt, Blythe, and I hiked to Stewart Falls with Eugene and Sharae and their kids, as well as Mikayla and her kids.  It was a beautiful day and we headed out early so that we wouldn't be hiking in the really hot.  We were, however, delayed in our start because of an accident on the canyon road just above Sundance.  A small delivery truck flipped over on its side and needed to be righted by a two truck, but it blocked all the traffic going up or down the canyon.  We were told the wait would be around an hour, but we got out at Sundance to run around a bit, and only waited about 20 minutes. 

We hiked from the Sundance cabins so the hike itself wouldn't be too long, considering we were hiking with small people, and it turned out to be a fun hike.  It was a bit ridiculous, too.  We started from a small parking lot, at a trailhead, with the falls almost directly in front of us, but we somehow missed the actual path and wound up on a deer trail, traipsing through low-growing trees and scampering over rocks and large sticks.  I felt like we should have had a machete to hack our way through.  As we approached the falls, we came up the trail and saw a sign ahead of us.  When we got there, the sign said, "No Hiking Beyond This Point."  We'd spent our whole time hiking "beyond the point."  

Once we arrived at the falls, we played around in the water and ate all our snacks.  It got busy as we stayed, but we got cute pictures beside--and under--the falls.  And after playing, we hiked back to the car.  I had hoped to stay on the actual trail, but it was moving away from the car and we didn't know if the path we were on would get us back.  So we all walked right past the sign again, and hiked beyond the point so we could get home.  Ridiculous.  All in all, however, it was a lovely outdoorsy outing, super fun with cousins.

Brandt and Luke running under the waterfall.

Blythe and Makenna did it too, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera to catch that moment.

Blake and Eugene under the falls.

Cora did not like the cold water.

I kept saying to people, 

"Hurry! We don't want anyone else to see us hiking past this point!"

I don't think we were spotted.

It wasn't a real trail.

Cora napped on me as we hiked.

Funny Children

I had Mikayla's children at my house today.  They were playing, things were fine.  But I did have this very funny text exchange with Mikayla in her absence.  It is a glimpse into her children's behavior and personalities.  Cora always eats A LOT when she is at my house.  First thing she does when she walks in is climb up at the counter and demand something to eat.  And Brick is fine tuning the potty training.  For the record, he has pooped outside in my yard, just like an animal.  I made Mikayla clean it up.  Fortunately, we were able to get Brick where he needed to be.  They are very funny children!

Seven Peaks

We went to Seven Peaks today with Mikayla, Brick, and Cora.  Brick was excited to go down the slides, so with Brandt and Blythe on a two person tube, and me and Brick on a single tube, we went down lots and lots of slides really fast.  Brick especially liked Cave In.  Mikayla took Cora down Cave In, too, but she was not enthused.  In fact, she was terrified.  Mikayla spent most of her time splashing with Cora in the wave pool while I did slides with the other kids.  I even told the kids that we could stay through lunch and eat there at the park.  They were so excited!  We stayed until almost 2:00 and did everything we wanted more than once.  It was a great time!  Mikayla took a couple of pictures which aren't great but which document our participation.

Brandt and Blythe shooting out of Cave In.

Me and Brick shooting out of Cave In.

I'm trying to keep us from flipping off the tube.

Cora enjoying the calm at the edge of the wave pool.

Swimming for Pioneers

Pioneer Day was on Sunday this year, so the celebrating bridged the weekend, leaving us to be involved in activities on Saturday and Monday.  On Saturday, the children both participated in the Pioneer Day Parade and we all went to the pancake breakfast immediately following.  Kent helped with breakfast, leaving early to help set up and whip up, and we joined him after the parade.  I tried to take pictures, but our house is at a bad angle for shooting small people coming up the hill facing the morning sun.  They are either half in shadow or the light is so bright they are blinded.  I'll post the single shot I thought was acceptable of the boys.

Sam and Jarom, Brandt in orange wearing his Peter Pan ragged jeans, 

and Charleen Doman's two grandsons whose names I don't remember.

Normally on Pioneer Day, we go down to North Park for all the city's festivities.  We listen to music and throw tomahawks, and have a covered wagon ride.  But because of stuff going on in our lives and my inattention, we forgot about going.  I remembered about 7:30pm.  Oh well.  There is always next year.

We had a nice Sunday.  I substituted in Primary and enjoyed sharing time.  Some of the kids shared stories about a pioneer ancestor and then we sang Pioneer songs.  I was impressed by the ancestor stories.

Today we gathered with DeMartinis to swim at Grandma Sue's house.  It was beautiful and we had a super fun time, as we always do when we swim with cousins at Grandma's house.  Makes me miss Grandpa De who is no longer with us when we swim.  But we were happy to celebrate those who came before us by swimming together.  No connection, I know, but still a good time.